SUMMER SPARK

SUMMER SPARK

The Winnetka’s Children’s Fair continues to delight families of the North Shore and marks the beginning of summer for kids of all ages.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

It’s an annual rite of summer. Winnetka elementary school children escape their last day of school and swiftly pedal to the Winnetka Children’s Fair, the annual jamboree held at the Ryerson family backyard in Winnetka. They’ve been pedaling that route for 75 years.

Baily Morris first went to the Winnetka Children’s Fair when her son was 2 years old. He had a blast, and so did she. Five years on, they both can’t wait for this year’s fair which will be held June 9 and 10 at Village Green Park.

The Winnetka Children’s Fair is an end-of-school rite for children of all ages.

It hasn’t changed much over the years. It hasn’t needed to. Because those behind it have kept one interest in mind—fun. Put your mobile phones away kids, this is an analog experience.

Morris is this year’s Children’s Fair chair, which raises funds for the Winnetka Community Nursery School, and she says while the fair continues to evolve, it remains true to its roots that started in 1945.

“This will be our 76th Children's Fair. and it's the same theme every year of just general family, fun, and community gathering. We will have carnival rides, ponies, camels, a petting zoo, lots of food, and beer and wine for the adults,” Morris says. “We have a dad band performing Friday evening for entertainment. There's a children's DJ that is scheduled to perform on Saturday, and the New Trier cheerleading squad will be doing a performance on Friday as well.”

Morris says it's a great place for families in Winnetka and surrounding communities to come together; enjoy some rides, arcade games, and face painting; eat some good food; and have a drink to celebrate the beginning of summer.

Rumor has it the adult drinks were a big hit last year, the first year that adult beverages were available. But at its essence, the fair is all about the kids.

“This year we're bringing back the inflatable zip line and the Euro bungee—two new rides from last year that were incredibly successful, very popular,” Morris says. “Then we have more standard carnival rides including a large slide where you go down in a potato sack. There's also going to be a spinning apples and a little miniature roller coaster.”

When Morris first went to the fair with her son, she thought it was a fun community event nestled in one of Winnetka’s beautiful parks.

“It's a great way for me to be involved in our children's preschool, and a great way to be involved in the community,” she says. “I feel like I’m getting back to, to a place that we live for this beloved community event.”

Morris says an enormous amount of work goes into planning and executing the fair and it's all done by volunteers, a majority of whom are moms of young children.

“Putting this into our very busy schedules can be challenging, but the reward at the end of the fair and all of the feedback from the community is worth it,” she says. “People love going and they went as kids and they're so happy to bring their kids back. It’s an exciting way to start the summer together, such a feel-good moment that it makes all the hard work with it.”

The fair is completely run by the community nursery school and is a fundraiser for the school. Volunteers for the fair come from throughout the community but the core group of individuals who run the fair are all affiliated with the school, and it's been that way for 76 years. Morris says she can see the impact it has on her own son.

“He loves the arcades where you get prizes, and Kona Ice (a shaved ice truck) was popular last year,” says Morris. “He's old enough now and a lot of the kids that attend the fair are kind of that younger-to-late elementary school and even into early middle school. There's just such a great feeling of freedom to be able to come to meet all of your friends and run around and use tickets to go on rides and have snacks and just see your buddies and play games and get little trinkets. I think that's really what makes these kids so excited.”

The fair averages about 4,000 attendees a year, and the planning committee is increasingly using social media to get the word out (it is, after all, for kids). Tickets went on sale on May 15 and can be purchased on the Winnetka Community Nursery School website or on site at the fair entrance. There are also some new twists to this year’s fair.

“What's new this year is we're selling merchandise—T-shirts and drawstring bags that the kids can use to hold their tickets and all their little trinkets and prizes that they get from the arcade games,” says Morris, adding that she draws her inspiration for volunteering for the fair from the kids and that last day of school when they hop on their bicycles and dart for the rides and the fun.

“There's such an amazing energy. We always plan it for the last day of school, so kids will ride their bikes from school directly to the Village Green and this wave of energy comes from the schools to the Village Green,” she says. “The kids run around and celebrate the end of school and the start of summer, just to have a good time. I think with the current environment we live in, that levity and that happiness is truly a gift.”

To purchase tickets to the Winnetka Children’s Fair, visit winnetkachildrensnurseryschool.org. To get the latest updates on the fair, follow @winnetkachildrensfair on Instagram.